Facts

The growing production of meat and milk will have fatal consequences. It conflicts with the fight against hunger and poverty. And it makes climate and species protection extremely difficult.

The world population has doubled in the past 50 years, and the global meat production has more than tripled. If no new political course is taken, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expects that the meat production will grow by another 85 percent by 2050. The negative environmental and social impacts of industrial meat production are well known and scientifically proven.

Surveys by 2030 and 2050 show that under these conditions the most important global development goals cannot be achieved: the abolition of absolute poverty and hunger, better health care, the protection of the seas, the sustainable use of soils, but also the adherence to the agreed goals for climate protection and biodiversity.

This sale is an example of a new kind of strengthening of power that is happening across borders.

The JBS SA, a beef company based in Brazil, acquired meat companies and poultry producers in the United States, Australia and Europe, as well as in Brazil. JBS is now the world’s biggest producer of beef. JBS is among the world’s top ten international food and beverage companies, with food sales amounting to 38.7 billion dollars in 2012. It’s annual food revenues are higher than those of major global food players like Unilever, Cargill and Danone.

These figures give us an idea what JBS’s size means at the slaughterhouse! It’s worldwide capacity can slaughter 85,000 cows, 70,000 pigs and 12 million birds. EVERY DAY.

Intensifying meat production and corporate strengthening have hazardous implications.
It is virtually impossible for the consolidated industry to co-exist with small producers — in this case, the local, small scale farmer or butcher.

These multinational cooperations wipe out a critical source of income, not only for the global poor but also for the average self employed, small scale producer. And they radically diminish consumer choices.

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HEALTHY HELPFUL WISE is a blog filled with recipes, facts and thoughts all dealing with healthy, helpful and wise choices. The aim of this blog is to help those without a voice; our animals, our planet and our future children. My greatest wish is to motivate everyone who has a voice and a choice, to speak out and help make a change.